


Lovers in a High-School Spacetime

by doglesbian



Category: Lovers of Aether, Rivals of Aether (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, just a generic girls fall in love fic with some plot based on canon, teenage lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 00:32:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18789373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doglesbian/pseuds/doglesbian
Summary: When a mysterious girl appears at the school, another girl becomes entranced with her. Will Clairen's secrets get in the way of love?





	Lovers in a High-School Spacetime

Another school day for Maypul, her routine continuing of going to class and manipulating her teachers and schoolmates every which way. Her careful monitoring of drama and rumors led her to the bustle about the new girl in school - a cat named Clairen who nobody knew anything about. Maypul’s current concern wasn’t with her history, though. She needed to go make her first impression as school president, after all! There was nothing like a chance to score a new ‘devotee.’

She finally found a pointed pair of ears as she walked between classes, Clairen digging in her backpack for something unseen. A firm “hey!” got her to get up and turn towards the tree-dweller, friendly smile on display.

Maypul was stunned. On sight she was already amazed with the girl, her face and smile, her outfit and hair, the deep red eyes and sleek jacket to match. She got a “what’s up?” that snapped her out of her staring reverie, lucky to recover before it became obvious. 

She outstretched a hand. “Clairen, right?”

“Yeah. You?” Maypul shook her hand, taking mental note of the new girl’s firm grip.

“Maypul. I’m the school president and I just wanted to give a friendly hello to the new student. I uh, hope you like the school so far!” Oh god, speech fumble. Maypul was trying and failing to not let the cute girl nerves overtake her.

“It’s pretty nice, yeah. Most people have been pretty friendly.” Clairen shifted her gaze, looking a bit impatient.

Maypul panicked, trying to find a smooth way to finish. She sparked a perfect excuse.

“Hey, since you’re new and all, just in case anything happens, you can have my phone number. Call me if you need me, okay?” She pulled out one of her flyers and hastily wrote down her info, shoving it at the cat.

“Thanks.”

Maypul quickly dashed off behind the lockers and out of Clairen’s sight before she messed anything else up and sitting down to collect herself. She knew she liked girls since she was little, but none of them had hit her lesbian nerve like this until now. Taking deep breaths, she peeked around a corner to make sure Clairen was gone before slinking off to class.

* * *

 

Clairen paused to look at the paper, which was nothing but a large picture of the girl’s face. She went to say “Your hair is cute,” as an off hand compliment, but when she looked up the girl was already gone. Shaking her head, she stuffed the flyer in her pack, pushing away some small gay thoughts in her mind to focus on her mission. 

She’d just finished jacking this PA speaker, throwing her bag over her shoulder to dash to the next one before next class started. She was deeply excited, if a little scared, to finally be fighting back against Emperor Loxodont on a level playing field. After the rebels sent her back in time to covertly take him out before his rise to power, it was just a long, slow trek towards victory. She both disliked and appreciated the lack of action, it was a break from a long series of hellish events, but still slow enough to make her impatient.

She couldn’t imagine how Loxodont started out as a principal of a school. Knowing that schools are practically just a form of prison, though, she could imagine how the cruelty he expressed could come from a sort of prison warden. She still shivered thinking about the suffering of the people of the future, and it only bolstered her will to finish the job.

The rebels had explained to her somewhat, but she still only vaguely understood what the school’s technology had to do with knocking him down. She knew her flame sword would be eventually involved, so she persisted with the off job. Seeing the pachyderm’s head off his shoulders would be the best image she could conjure.

The speaker she was working on messing with suddenly blared in her face, the grating electronic voice shaking her skull. It was time to get to class.

Her classes were boring, either just in general or because she already knew the things being taught. It honestly felt like torture, but two things kept her sane: the notebook she would covertly log mission reports and draw in, and the friendly and entertaining personalities of her classmates. She would always awkwardly scoot out of questions about her life, but they didn’t seem to mind. The rumors about her history still spread, though, and whenever she listened she was glad to hear absolutely none of them were correct.

* * *

Eventually it was time for the end-of-day board meeting, which was code for what was mostly Maypul and her trusted associates chatting and running their rumor mill. Today, though, Maypul was less vocal than usual, lost in thought.

Her vice president Lily was the first to call her on it. “Maypul, I don’t want to imply anything, but you’re kind of spacey today. Is everything alright?”

She sighed discontentedly, hoping her poker face and a lie would get her out of the question. “I’m alright, just tired. Long day.”

It wasn’t a good enough facade to trick everyone. Her assistant (and sister) Mayreed piped up. “No, I know that look… someone’s in love, isn’t she?”

Maypul banged her head on the desk.

“Who is it?”

Maypul gave a mean mouthed response. “What, you think I’m going to give you all my secrets? Screw off.”

“C’mon Maypul… you can trust us. I kinda just wanna help you through it, love is cool. It would be nice to see you with someone!”

Maypul groaned very loudly. “If this gets out to anyone, both of you are getting hung from the Ding Dong tree, got it?” A sigh. Burying her head in her arms, she gave a muffled answer. “It’s Clairen. The cat one, new girl, who has that cool jacket.”

“Oh, that’s so cute…” Maypul banged her head again.

“Ugh. I hate all the feelings it’s giving me. It feels weird and it’s affecting me and I hate it.”

“Love changes people like that,” Lily said softly.

“I don’t want to change.”

“I hear it sucks in the pining phase, but once you’re dating for real the changes feel good. Plus, it’s not like your crush is just going to disappear. You at least have to do something!” Mayreed was really pushing this, apparently super into this idea.

“Well if you two know so much about love why don’t you start helping me with this crap. Never liked a soul in my life, I’m lost.”

“Maypul, you’re the most clever and cunning girl in this school, you can talk anyone into anything, and talk your way out of it too. You have  _ plenty _ of skills with wooing people. Just shift to using it for wooing Clairen.”

She looked up to squint at that suggestion. “You make an amazing point. Where do I start though?”

Mayreed, still filling her role as apparent love guru, shared her thoughts once again. “Ask her on a date, but as a friend thing, just suggest the idea of going somewhere casual to hang out and get to know each other. It’s good to know who you’re asking out, probably.”

Maypul wrote that down, her silence as she scribbled bringing conversation away from this topic, Maypul fading back into idle daydreams.

* * *

Clairen had already sent a text to Maypul, asking for help finding something she needed to mess with for her mission, so Maypul luckily had a route to talking with her crush.

The proposition was simple enough, a relaxing get to know each other session at a place of Clairen’s choice. It would be for the weekend, and with the school being closed those days she could put aside her mission for the moment. She still had suspicion though, since this was sort of unexpected. When she double checked the flyer she’d stuffed away, it struck her even harder. She looked exactly like a younger version of one of Loxodont’s little friends. She hit her forehead for not having thought it out sooner. Of course the student president would be close to the principal.

Had she been figured out? It didn’t seem too suspicious in full honesty, and “wherever you want to go” is a fairly bad set up for a trap. She hoped that maybe the girl just hadn’t been pulled into corruption too much in this time-space. If anything she could knock down Loxodont even further by turning over one of his future helpers. Maybe she could even use this as a way to fight from the inside…

She accepted the offer, asking to hang out at Maypul’s house, unable to think of attractions since she’d only just arrived, and her hotel would be quite boring. She made sure to pack a weapon or two just to be safe, though…

* * *

Maypul had scrubbed every last inch of her house the moment she learned Clairen would come. Everything was organized, wiped, sorted, and put away, and ten minutes after that, lightly strewn again to make it look lived in. For an hour her room looked like a laundry whirlwind as she stressed over what to wear. Too casual, too formal, too ugly to wear in front of a crush, too pretty to not give away she had a crush.

Face mashed in a pillow, she groaned. Every ounce of her usual snide confidence had been shattered into an overcompensating nervous wreck by one girl. It was the worst. Lily’s affirmations of Maypul’s wooing skills seemed to be fading in power as she realized the influence of her lesbian love. Between all the frustration the only thing that kept her going was that fact of needing to do something about it and maybe a bit of calming gay daydreaming.

Clairen was due in an hour, and with everything in order and nothing else to do, all Maypul could do was wait and try to distract herself from her nerves and emotions. She circled the kitchen, taking inventory on all the food and trying to figure out possible lunches. An idea sparked in her head, one that she quickly got to work on to meet her time limit. The stirring of batter and rolling of dough was easy to focus on, and the scent of baking calmed her nerves. She was hopeful her special guest would love a fresh, warm plate of cookies.

Just as she finished re-wiping the kitchen, the doorbell rang, startling her out of her stupor. She dashed to the door and pressed down her skirt, prepping her best smile as she twisted the knob. 

As expected, there stood the girl of Maypul’s dreams, casually scratching her neck in wait of the door. “Oh! Good, I got the right place.” She donned her same ripped-jeans-and-sleek-jacket schtick, toting a rough duffle. Maypul frowned internally at seeing Clairen the same as always, as if she didn't try any harder for her meeting with Maypul, but she swatted those thoughts away before she started overthinking again.

Clairen sniffed the air a bit as she stepped inside. “Woah, are there cookies?” Maypul’s nerves loosened just a bit knowing she’d already pleased her guest. Once Clairen found the plate she had already scarfed down two before she remembered house manners.

“Sorry! They’re just so good and I was hungry and-”

“It’s okay! I.... made them for you. Fresh from the oven. All yours.” Maypul’s blushing would have been incredibly visible if it weren’t for Clairen having snapped her sight back to the massive plate of cookies, eyeing it hungrily. Maypul hadn’t thought out how her baking might be considered romantic, cursing to herself as she felt her carefully crafted subtlety fall apart immediately.

Deep breaths couldn’t keep her from starting to fidget, her tone just barely wobbling as she started to suggest activities, landing on watching movies, letting Clairen choose the movie. It was a cheesy action movie, with guns blazing and cars racing. Maypul couldn’t keep her attention on it very well, too busy entranced with the side of Clairen’s face and her nervous thoughts. She considered nudging herself closer to the girl, but she was still frozen in awkward fear.

There was a sudden moment when Clairen perked up, as if she remembered something. Straightening her back and turning towards the other girl on the couch, she spoke, tone unsettled. “Uh, Maypul… I need you to be completely honest with me for a second.” A pause, a long breath. “You’re not trying to kill me or anything, right?”

The amount of shock and confusion on Maypul’s face was palpable, and the shock combined with the pre-existing nerves sent her into an unfiltered scrambled speech. “N-no! I don’t know what you mean and I’m sorry and I promise I’m not doing anything!”

“Why’d you invite me over all of a sudden then? Where’d all this interest come from?”

Maypul’s blushing was spread across almost her entire face, looking down in shame as she squeaked out an answer. “I, have a crush on you… you’re cute and seem nice and I just, wanted to have a date, and…” a moment of silence as she finally worked to calm herself. “Sorry that it came out this way…”

Clairen’s embarrassment was also visible, nearly overshadowing the tinge of blush. “Wow, that was a real misunderstanding then, huh. I think I owe you an explanation.”

The slow movie conversations now expanded into a long and deep conversation about Clairen, her mission, time travel, the future, the principal (who was super evil, which Maypul had kind of guessed all along), and the future version of Maypul. So far it had surprisingly skipped over any mention of the crush.

“That’s weird. I’m evil? I know I can be a troublemaker of sorts but… I don’t know if I could do something like what you’re saying.”

Clairen gave some reassurance. “With my help and your new foresight, you won’t have to..”

Maypul gave a tiny nod. “Sorry for all the things that I did.”

Clairen did a head turn, looking away and reaching her hand behind her neck in a casual scratch. “If you wanted, you could make it up to me with a kiss…”

A tiny gasp, almost imperceptible, escaped Maypul’s lips before she leaned in and delivered, a small but meaningful peck on the cheek that made both of them bloom with blush.

Their long conversation had lasted until the movie behind them had died down, with the dark of the rolling credits signaling to them that they should probably put a new one in. The next movie seemed much more topical, a cheesy romcom about two girls and their chicken farm. Neither of them paid much attention though, focused on casually and slowly scooting closer to each other until they were laying against each other, holding hands with their fingers laced together, basking in the warmth and closeness, each occasionally turning to drop a surprise kiss on the other.

It was late, and with the sun setting and the day starting to close, Clairen seemed to drift off, pretending not to be tired when asked, but being given away by the droopy eyelids and yawns. Eventually she’d passed out, curling into Maypul, who couldn’t be more happy than to run her hands through the sleeping cat’s hair and feel her soft breaths. It wasn’t long before her lights were out as well, the couple curled up cutely on the sofa and in each others arms.

When her sister Mayreed came home, it took some effort for her not to squeal at the sight of the two. She was kind enough to stay quiet, carefully tucking a blanket over them before running off to her own devices.

* * *

A week flowed by the pair, featuring another half day of close bonding and a school week full of barely suppressed pining. 

Rumors had trouble blooming with how openly they held hands in halls; with all Maypul's obsession for controlling information, this was one thing she was ready for everyone to know how cool she thought Clairen was. The attention it earned Clairen was a little scary, with her needed secrecy being threatened, but help from Maypul, with her skills and powers as class president, kept everything seemingly twice as secure as before. She was a true mastermind of manipulation, and Clairen was incredibly glad that that almost scary power had been saved from the clutches of imperial evil. Clairen’s secrets were kept, her mission continued, and her relationships flourished with someone so influential to tote her around.

The week passed and it was time again for Clairen to stop by Maypul’s house again, the privacy giving them a chance to speak freely about Clairen’s mission with the added bonus of being able to be as ridiculously affectionate as they want.

Sitting in Maypul’s bedroom, a highly pristine affair with strong decoration and a strong affinity for green. Clairen sat behind Maypul, casually brushing through the fur of her head as they talked endlessly.

There was a moment the speaking stopped, Maypul freezing in thought and Clairen maintaining her focus on petting through the fur of Maypul’s back.

“Clairen, are you ever gonna have to leave? Like, go back to your future, to your real home?” There was a stilt in her tone, like she was trying to hide her emotions.

“Uh, no, not really.”

The solemn tone swiftly shifted to surprise at that answer. She wheeled around to look Clairen in the eyes. “What? Seriously?”

“Yeah, the reality of time travel is that if you change the future then the future version of you becomes one that never time travels so if you go back to the future there’s another you and if you wanted to fit in you’d have to kill your new self and try to replace them which is just a mess,” as she babbled on about her explanation there was a lot of nonsensical hand and arm movements, demonstrating an invisible diagram of timelines and existence. “It’s a big sacrificial thing. Save the world, but leave everything behind. At least it’s a dying world you’re leaving,” she said with a very unsettled chuckle. “Plus, it’s good to stay behind and make sure things still go the right way as time passes.”

Once she ran out of infodumping to do, the present returned to her, and she noticed the disturbed look on the other girl’s face. She very quickly leaped to give a warm hug, holding her close and comforting her. “Hey, don’t worry. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, and that’s a good thing. This place is cool, I have you and some new friends and things to check out. I don’t regret it in the slightest.”

The tension in Maypul’s body started to fade, Clairen relieved to see she’d helped. Before she could react, Clairen had been knocked back onto the bed, Maypul following and giving a payback hug.

“I’m so glad to hear that. That you’re ok, and that you’re not going anywhere. I hope that isn’t selfish to say…”

Clairen shushed her. “It’s absolutely fine. I’m glad I get to stay with you too.”

When they sat back up, it was Clairen’s turn to have her fur played with, Maypul carefully pulling through hair and messing with the funny blue braid she had.

“Hmm. With all the hotel money I got sent back with I think we could buy a house. What do you think, graduate, move in together, get a big fish tank and a soft bed to share…”

“My thoughts are that we’ve been girlfriends for a week and you’re already planning our future. Very gay of you. I love the thought.”

Their time together faded into imagining a beautiful future together, with all the appropriate kisses and quips inserted.

**Author's Note:**

> by demand i might write a sequel to this bc a certain someone said they were invested in the characters now but anyways thank you for reading i hope you enjoyed my lesbian content...


End file.
